Star Spangled Summer
by lydiamaartin
Summary: Maybe they're one of the rare cases where summer love lasts. She's always up for being an exception, after all. Rachel and Sam in the summer after senior year. - SamRachel


**Disclaimer: Characters belong to Fox; song (Out of Summertime) belongs to Scotty McCreery (also Fox, I guess).**

**Dedicated wholeheartedly to my amyzing friend and fellow RachelSam shipper Hope (AccioHope) because she wrote me a beautiful RachelSam ages ago and I promised her one in return and here you go! Hope (haha, pun not intended) you like it, Hope! :D**

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><p><em>if the days had only stayed that long<br>and those autumn leaves didn't have to fall_

-:-

Summer means happiness, free time, and writing songs; summer means taking Stacey and Stevie out to the park to play, strumming his guitar for his friends during random jam sessions, and not having to worry about homework and tests and teachers and the drama that comes as a package deal with high school life.

And then Sam steps back and has to take a moment to remember that he's _done_. He's done with the drama and the homework and the tests – well, maybe not the homework and the tests, quite yet, but all the drama wrapped up in McKinley High's walls is never going to be a part of his life again.

He's _graduated_, he's going to _New York University_, and it's the second-best feeling in the world; second, of course, to the feeling of winning Nationals with the Glee club his senior year of high school.

Still. He's _done_, and looking up at the wide expanse of blue freedom above him, Sam thinks that maybe all that drama, all that breaking up and making up and hooking up and wondering who wasn't speaking to who this week, maybe it was all _worth_ it, in the end, because hadn't he come out a better person, a stronger person, a _happier_ person with more friends and more laughter in his life?

Then he runs into Rachel Berry at the county fair, and his world goes spinning and maybe_ just maybe_, there were some things he'd missed out on during his time at McKinley.

-:-

She's getting ready to sing when he sees her – or, more specifically, when Stacey spies her by the makeshift stage and starts jumping up and down, calling "Rachel! Rachel!" with such loud delight that Sam nearly jumps at the noise.

Rachel turns at the sound of her name, and a smile lights her face when she sees Sam and Stacey and Stevie standing there, opening her arms immediately for Stacey to dart into – his little sister had taken quite a shine to Rachel in the intervening years between her meeting Rachel and their graduation.

"Hey, Rach," Sam greets easily, shoving his hands in his pockets as he wanders up to her. "Are you performing on the show?" he asks, stifling a laugh when Stevie takes one look at her, blushes beet red, and hides behind his legs.

It's a stupid question, really, because of _course_ Rachel Berry had managed to book herself a gig at the county fair, but she smiles at him anyway. "Yes, I am, actually; it turns out the guest performer who was supposed to be coming in from Westerville caught a high fever earlier this week and they needed somebody to fill in on short notice, and who am I to deny an opportunity to share my talents with an audience when it arises?"

Sam chuckles as she lets go of Stacey to hug him, his arms fitting warmly around her slender frame. "Rachel, seriously, you're going to _Juilliard_ next fall. Why bother performing at a county fair?"

He seems to have a streak going with the stupid questions, he notices idly, when she pulls back to look him dead in the eye, a sparkle in her hazel-dark eyes he's only ever seen when she's talking about music and performing and her dreams coming true.

"Because performing is performing, Sam," she says, almost sternly as if she was chastising him, though he'd never believe that with the smile that plays on her lips. "It doesn't matter whether it's under Broadway lights or at a small county fair in a town nobody's heard of – it's _performing_ and it's what I love, so why would I give it up, ever?"

Something about the gleam in her eyes and the passion in her voice strikes a chord inside him, because every time he's around her, he's reminded of how much he loves music, even though he doesn't show it as often and as vocally as she does. Rachel just has this spark in her that brings out all the songs and symphonies burning inside him, and he smiles.

"Right, sorry," he grins, grabbing her hand and squeezing it. "That was a stupid question."

Stacey giggles, Stevie snorts, and Rachel laughs, pressing a hand to his chest and making him promise that he'd stand and watch for her entire set.

(Truth be told, he would have done it anyway, but he lets her believe otherwise. It makes the smile on her face when she sees him cheering in the audience all the more special.)

-:-

Her songs, her voice, and all her performances are beautiful that breezy day, as he'd guessed they would be – what else could one expect of Rachel Berry, after all? After she's done with all her songs, she takes a bow to the cheering audience comprised mostly of enraptured parents, bored little kids, and scrawny freshmen boys who think she's hot, and descends the stage to where he's sitting with his siblings, a beaming smile on her face like she always gets after she's finished a performance she _knows_ was wonderful.

"Stop glaring at that boy, Sam," she orders him cheerfully as Stacey drags her down onto the seat in between her and Sam. "What did he do to you?"

"He's staring at you like you're a piece of meat!" Sam protests. Time spent with the boys of Glee club had imbued him with a strong sense of overprotectiveness over all the Glee girls, but especially over Rachel because ever since she'd started giving Stacey singing lessons last year, he'd spent time with her as if she were his sister.

Rachel rolls her eyes, but there's an affectionate smile on her face. "Stacey, I'd worry about this one in a couple years, okay?" she teases.

Sam makes a face at her. "Shut up."

"Let's go explore the fair some," she suggests, happily disregarding his request and jumping to her feet, dragging Stacey with her. "I saw a ferris wheel I wanted to try out."

"Whatever you say," Sam grins, standing and raising an eyebrow at Stevie, who looks like he's trying to melt into his chair, to get him to stand, too. "To the ferris wheel!" And he scoops Stacey up into his arms and goes running off with her, leaving a laughing Rachel to lead Stevie after them.

And if he happens to shoot that scrawny freshman boy checking her out a dirty look, well, she doesn't have to know that, now, does she?

-:-

At the ferris wheel, he sits next to Rachel in the little box, and he finds himself thinking that, with the wind blowing her dark curls every which way and her eyes closed and her cheeks flushed from the chill and a delighted smile on her face, he's never seen her quite so beautiful, not even when she's all dolled up for prom or a show choir competition.

Rachel, he decides, looks best when she's _free_ – of judgmental people, of drama-filled peers, of dealing with so many different guys who don't truly love her – of _everything_ and _anything_.

And she's free here, next to him, her body warm pressed against his, some loose strands of her hair dancing in front of his face, her hand encased securely inside his own. She's got no role to play, no smile to fake, nobody to pretend to like.

Neither does he, because it's summer, and he's _happy_.

In the row above them, Stacey and Stevie are hollering with glee as the Ferris wheel swoops around again and again, and Sam opens his eyes against the cold to flash Rachel a smile.

She smiles back, and he thinks she's finally, really, truly happy, too.

-:-

Two days later, he comes home from an afternoon playing video games with Puck to find Rachel and Stacey in the living room, practicing singing, though he's pretty sure he'd heard those lessons were over ever since Rachel graduated.

"I thought you guys had finished those up?" he asks as he wanders in to the living room, biting into an apple.

Rachel straightens up and raises her eyebrows at him, smiling lightly. "Well, we decided to resume them for a couple weeks before she goes off to summer camp. Why waste perfectly good days when you could be learning how to sing, right?"

Stacey beams and bobs her head up and down. "Yeah! Plus, it's for free, so what does it matter?" she asks, sticking her tongue out at him.

Sam snorts and raises his hands in a gesture of peace, though this is rather hard with an apple in one hand. "Do whatever you want. I'll just be in my room, _not_ doing my summer reading, then," he tells them, winking and inciting a giggle from Stacey and a brighter smile from Rachel before he wanders off into his room.

The walls are thin, though, and he can still hear Rachel's singing fill the house with her stories of passion and heartbreak and longing delivered by the rich, melodious tones he'd first heard two years ago sitting in a plastic chair in Glee club.

Now, lying comfortably in his bed and listening to her beautiful voice drift through the house, as if its looking for a home, he thinks she may be the prettiest, most passionate singer he's ever heard.

-:-

_Knock-knock!_

"Come in!"

"I was – " Rachel takes one look at him, in the middle of changing and missing his shirt, and rolls her eyes. "You could have warned me, you know."

"Why?" Sam shrugs, grabbing a random blue t-shirt off his bed. "You've seen me shirtless plenty of times. Remember rehearsals for our Rocky Horror Picture Show production in Glee?"

A fond smile appears on her face as she watches him pull on his shirt. "Oh, yes, that was brilliant. You know, I always did think I'd make a wonderful Janet, ever since I first saw the show, but it's just too bad we didn't have a chance to show it to anybody, though I suppose it was for the best since – "

Sam throws a plush basketball from his bed at her. She stops speaking just long enough to call out his name in exasperation and throw her hands up to protect her face from the impact. Thankfully, she doesn't resume her mini-speech, instead propping her hands on her hips and glaring at him.

"What?" he chuckles, stepping just far back enough that she wouldn't be able to kick him. "You were rambling."

"And you figured the appropriate response was to throw a basketball at my head?" Rachel demands, kicking the basketball in lieu of reaching him; it goes flying into the air, straight for Sam, and he catches it easily, much to her annoyance.

"It's just a plush basketball," he reminds her, setting it back on his bed and walking forward when he sees the hint of a smile play on her lips. "Come on. Puck probably would have just kissed you or something. Would you prefer I do that?"

Rachel sniffs, but she doesn't flat-out deny that she _wouldn't_ prefer that as she walks away, leaving him standing in the doorway with a grin on his face for about ten minutes.

-:-

"Stacey'll be home from the birthday party soon, Rach – are you sure you don't want anything to eat?"

Rachel glances up from her examination of the kitchen counter to smile idly at him. "I'm positive, thank you, Sam. And I'd feel weird eating the food of a friend who was homeless not too long ago when I have a fully-stocked fridge at me house."

Sam rolls his eyes, but there's still a grin on his face at her own version of concern and compassion. "Seriously, it's not a problem. But if you're sure you're not hungry, we could watch TV or something? What do you want to do?"

"Sing," she answers matter-of-factly, and he laughs, wondering why he'd ever expected her answer to be anything different.

"You always want to sing," he complains good-naturedly, but then an idea sparks in his mind. "Wait. I have my guitar, and…" For a moment, he hesitates, looking over at her curious expression, and then decides to plow on. "I've been working on some original songs."

Rachel's face lights up as if a firework has just exploded. "Really? You've been writing songs? Oh, that's fantastic; it's good to know all those hours sitting in Glee club haven't gone to waste, you know! Let me hear them!" she says in delight, jumping off the stool.

Sam has to grin at her enthusiasm. "Hold on, let me get my guitar, would you?" he says, turning to walk to his room. He'd expected her to follow, though, so he leads her to his room where his guitar is kept and picks it up along with his guitar pick and the sheets of music he'd been writing on.

"Here," he says, a trifle nervously, offering them to her. "It's not the best – it's not even as good as your work from junior year, but I – well, yeah."

Rachel smiles and accepts the papers. "You don't need to be nervous," she tells him, looking through the songs with a sharp eye. "I know how it feels. And I'm not going to criticize you, for heaven's sake, I'm not Simon Cowell."

He cracks a grin. "Yeah, no, you're way too pretty to be an old British dude."

The words escape without thinking, and he's just beginning to wish he could shove them back inside, but she looks up at him too fast and with too bright a smile on her face to do that. It's not really the best compliment he could have given her, but she seems to appreciate it just fine, so he smiles in return and begins to strum his guitar.

Rachel starts singing the words he'd written down earlier that summer, and it almost feels surreal, watching her dive into the heart of his song and pour out all the passion contained in the lyrics of heartbreak and the story of regret.

She really shines when she's singing, he thinks, shines simply because she puts her whole heart and soul into a simple song, shines because she loves it, and this is her _destiny_.

He wonders if there's room for him in her destiny.

-:-

One day in the middle of July when it feels like summer is slipping through his fingers, Stacey decides she wants to go for ice cream – with Rachel. Naturally, she talks Sam into loading everybody – well, him, his siblings, and Rachel – into his father's car and driving off to the ice cream parlor near the center of town.

"She does realize I can't have ice cream, right?" Rachel whispers to him over the sound of Stacey and Stevie's chatter in the backseat. "Unless they miraculously have soy milk or something, which is rather unlikely since this town is not known for accommodating vegans."

Sam adjusts the rearview mirror in time to see Stacey sticking her tongue out at him, just for fun. "I think they might have coconut milk ice cream, actually, but you'll have to ask," he tells her lightly, making a face at his little sister and teasing a giggle out of her.

"Really?" Rachel asks in surprise. "Is it new? I can't think of any existing ice cream parlors in Lima that have coconut milk," she says thoughtfully, tilting her head.

"It's a new thing at the parlor," Stevie pipes up from the backseat. "The owner's daughter became a veg – veggie – vegematarion," he says brightly, and then shrinks back in his seat when Rachel turns to smile at him, a blush spreading on his cheeks.

Confused, Rachel turns back to their chuckling driver. "Is your brother scared of me or something?" she whispers, keeping her voice down so the kids in the backseat, having re-started their game of pretend-dinosaurs, won't hear.

Sam laughs. "No, Rach. He has a crush on you," he whispers back, grinning at her when her eyes widen in realization and hoping Stevie couldn't hear their conversation. "Honestly, I thought it was pretty obvious."

Rachel huffs, though there's an affectionate smile on her face. "Nope. You boys are all the same, even before puberty, aren't you?" she teases.

"Hey, that's not fair," Sam protests, raising an eyebrow at her. "I'm not the heartbreaker type, am I?"

It goes very quiet in the front area of the car, while behind them, Stacey and Stevie continue on their quest to find dinosaur fossils without regard for the fact that they'd been pretending to be dinosaurs just five minutes ago. Rachel looks down at her interlocked hands on her lap and then up at him, a small smile lighting her eyes.

"No," she muses, absently reaching up and brushing a lock of his blond hair out of his face. "You're not."

Her hand remains on his forehead for much longer than necessary, but he really doesn't mind at all.

-:-

As luck would have it, they'd somehow managed to pick perhaps the _only_ ice cream parlor that already had two Glee club members there that day – and not just any Glee club members, Sam thinks wryly, offering a smile of greeting to Kurt.

It had to be _Finn_.

Rachel steps back so suddenly, she walks right into his chest, and she doesn't move even while the awkward silence grows and stagnates and Stacey and Stevie huddle behind Sam's legs with only small smiles for Finn and Kurt. Sam's hands subconsciously touch her arms from behind to steady her, but he finds she doesn't need it after a moment to gather herself.

"Hello, Kurt," she says lightly, straightening from his arms, and he finds he rather misses the warmth of her body pressed up against his – never mind. "Finn," she adds, inclining her head to the two of them, her smile perhaps warmer for Kurt than her ex-boyfriend.

"Rachel," Finn begins, rising out of his seat, but a warning glance from Kurt keeps him put. "Um, hi, Sam. Stacey, Stevie, how are you guys?"

"Good," answers Stacey.

"Well," answers Stevie at the same time.

Kurt chuckles. "Are you trying to teach your sister proper grammar, kiddo?" he asks playfully. "It won't work. Trust me," he adds, sending a meaningful look at Finn who rolls his eyes.

"Be quiet – I managed to pass English, didn't I?" Finn retorts, and just like that, the atmosphere of awkwardness is broken and Stacey's clambering into the seat next to Kurt to taste his mango ice cream and Finn's helping Stevie into the booth so he can show him the cool designs he's made in his raspberry ice cream with the end of his spoon.

Rachel turns to Sam, no smile on her face, but at least she's no longer stunned into silence – he thinks he would miss her ramblings and chatter if she had been. "Let's go order, shall we?" she suggests quietly, seeming very well aware of Finn's eyes on her back.

Sam smiles comfortingly at her and offers her his arm, spurring a laugh from her as she loops her hand through. "We shall," he says mock-gallantly, gesturing to the counter. "Milady?"

Rachel laughs as they walk forward, together, and while he really wasn't trying to make Finn jealous, only make her laugh, Sam has to admit it's a plus to the arrangement.

-:-

It was a very messy break-up, which is about on par for these two, he thinks to himself, watching Finn shift in his seat as Rachel and Kurt debate Broadway musicals across from him. Stacey and Stevie are both at his side, chattering a mile a minute, and Sam's pulled up a chair at the end of the table, but his old teammate's attention is definitely focused on Rachel.

He can't really blame Finn for looking at her like that, though – Rachel's never been conventionally pretty like Quinn or even Santana, but with her hair long and loose and her eyes lit up with a smile and a spark as she gestures wildly to Kurt about Broadway legends, she looks _beautiful_, almost as beautiful as she does when she's singing, and –

What is he _thinking_?

Sam shakes his head quickly to clear it, hoping nobody had noticed, and reaches over to stop Stacey from falling down to the ground. "Careful, sis," he remarks absently, still watching Finn attempt to interrupt the conversation and be stopped each time by either his own hesitation or by a new tangent in Kurt and Rachel's debate.

Rachel had gotten accepted into Juilliard, and Finn hadn't wanted to try a long-distance relationship when he would be staying in Ohio, Sam remembers. The argument was rather public, though the break-up had happened in private, and nobody still knew the details. It had shocked quite a few people, himself included, who'd thought Finn and Rachel's relationship had been going strong all year, but maybe, in hindsight, everything had just been bubbling under the surface, waiting to explode.

He digs a hole in his pistachio ice cream with his spoon, and Rachel looks up. "Are you looking for a dinosaur fossil in there or what?" she jokes, earning herself loud laughter from his siblings and a smile from him.

"Maybe," he teases, nodding to Stacey and Stevie when Kurt sends him a questioning glance. "Are you done with your ice cream?" he adds, looking at her empty bowl and then at his siblings' half-empty ones. "Because I'm not going to finish this."

"You guys are leaving?" Kurt asks, looking over in concern at his step-brother. "All right, Rachel, we can continue this debate over email, then."

Rachel grins at him. "We can carry it into New York this fall," she adds, making him laugh.

Finn winces at the mention of New York.

"Yeah, okay," Sam says quickly before Rachel can say anything, "let's get going, Stacey and Stevie."

-:-

Finn follows them outside.

Honestly, Sam had kind of been waiting for him to make a move, so he sits in the car and waits patiently as Rachel steps outside to talk to her ex-boyfriend – and if he has the window rolled down just a little, well, he'd forgotten to roll it up, is all.

"I'm sorry, Rachel," says Finn, his voice wafting through the window first. He sounds sincere, but Sam still finds himself hoping that Rachel doesn't just blindly accept his apology. "I'm really sorry – I never should have said all those things – I just – "

"It's all right," Rachel interrupts him, gently but firmly. "I get it. Honestly, Finn, you don't need to apologize. You're not ready for a long-distance relationship, and honestly, neither am I."

"But – " Finn heaves a sigh, sounding frustrated. "Rachel, I want to give it – us, long-distance – a try." His words ring loudly in the almost empty parking lot, and Sam has to sit back and take a deep breath and remind himself that Rachel is strong enough to not need him butting in.

Rachel takes a moment to answer, and when she does, she sounds sad. "I'm sorry, Finn, but I don't think we're ready. I don't think we ever were, and we'd just be deluding ourselves if we – "

"I _love_ you, Rachel," Finn interrupts.

It's silent for an even longer moment, and Sam can feel his heart going _thump-thump-thump_ in his chest.

"I'm sorry," Rachel says at last, and her tone rings of finality. "Is there…is there anything else you wanted to talk about?" she asks, the suggestion weak even as she says it.

Finn pauses for a minute, audibly swallowing. "I…have you been spending a lot of time with Sam or something? I mean, you two came to the ice cream parlor together, and…"

"We're just friends," she says firmly, and something in the air in the car seems to become heavier as he listens. "I've been giving Stacey singing lessons again, and she felt like ice cream today. Really, Finn, you don't have to worry about me."

"I can't help it," Finn sighs. "I'm sorry, Rachel."

"Me, too," she says simply, and she stands out in the heat of the summer as she watches him walk away.

-:-

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No."

"Would you like a smoothie?"

"No, that's all right."

"Are you still in love with him?"

Silence.

He takes a sip of his own raspberry smoothie, waiting.

"No, I don't think so."

She smiles. It's a simple conversation, but it sets his world spinning in the right direction once more.

-:-

He starts teaching her how to play the guitar. Stacey's coaxed her into staying for dinner one afternoon close to the beginning of August and then promptly fallen asleep right after eating, so Sam takes Rachel into his room, and their conversation ends up at guitar playing.

"Do you know how?" he asks her curiously, picking up his guitar and starting to tune it.

"I know the basics," she admits, smiling a little at him, evidently over the events at the ice cream parlor.

"I'll teach you," he offers, grinning at her and sliding the guitar partly onto her lap as she laughs and grips the neck. "Put your fingers on the string – you know how to do that properly, right?"

She manages to do it with a bit of help, and he finds himself with his arm around her body, smiling down at her – in the light of the honey-gold setting sun, she really seems to shine, he thinks dizzily, wondering why he's struck with the sudden urge to lean forward and _kiss_ her.

"Like this, right?" she asks once her fingers are properly positioned, looking up at him with a smile bright on her face, and Sam swallows.

"Yeah," he breathes, feeling like she's far too close to him for his own good, "just like that."

He doesn't kiss her that afternoon, but he doesn't forget that feeling like butterflies swirling inside him when he looked at her, either.

-:-

"Thanks for coming to the park with us, Rach."

Rachel kneels down to pluck a sunflower from the ground, smiling at him as she comes back up. "It wasn't a problem. I had nothing to do today, and being with you – and, um, Stacey and Stevie – is better than being bored at home."

"You could have practiced your singing," Sam suggests with a grin, taking the sunflower from her and tucking it into her dark, loose hair, right behind her ear. "Or finished your summer reading, which I'm sure you had because colleges like to torture us. Or practiced guitar or – "

Rachel sets her hands on her hips, making quite a sight with one eyebrow raised and a sunflower, bright and yellow, sitting in her dark hair. "Do you not want me to be here?" she demands, the beginnings of a smile playing on her lips.

"I didn't say that!" he protests, laughing. "Of course I want you here. Stacey and Stevie adore you and I – " Whatever words he'd been about to say get stuck in his throat as he looks at her, really _looks_ at her, and sees standing in front of him a beautiful girl whom he's known for two years, through ups and downs and break-ups and haircuts, whom he's unknowingly fallen in love with over the course of the last two months, a girl with a sunflower in her hair and a voice about to take Broadway by storm.

"Sam?" Rachel asks curiously, and without really thinking about it, Sam leans down to kiss her.

It's quick and light, but it leaves him feeling dizzy and happy in all the best ways, and he smiles at her when he pulls back. "Sorry," he murmurs, not really apologetic because that was the best kiss he'd ever had, better, even, than all those hot and heavy make-out sessions with Quinn and Santana. "I just – I felt – "

Rachel bites her lip and smiles, just a little, up at him. "Me, too," she says simply. And then she's in his arms again, kissing him, her mouth warm on his in a symphony of fireworks and butterflies and sunshine and _music_, most of all, and it's wonderful.

Behind them, Stacey looks up and mutters, "Ew, gross," as they pull back. Sam looks at Rachel and they both burst out laughing, and he wraps an arm around her as they walk back to his siblings and their sand castle, and maybe they weren't meant to be like Kurt and Blaine or Puck and Quinn, but he rather thinks they _work_, just the way they are.

Despite Stacey's complaints, they don't stop kissing on that bright summer afternoon.

-:-

'_cause what we felt on that ferris wheel  
>was just too right and just too real<em>

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><p><strong>Author's Notes: Finally, I have written my Glee OTP and these two can stop nagging at me to write them! ;) Hope you all liked this, and if you read it, please drop me a review to let me know what you think! :D<strong>

**Don't favorite without reviewing, please and thank you.**


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